19세기 후반 평안도 정주목사 이헌영의 흥학과 교육실태

Abstract

This study investigates the transitional state of education in the late 19th Century Chosŏn by examining the educational activities of Yi Hŏnyŏng, who was the provincial governor appointed to Chŏngju, P’yŏngan-do. After enforcing the protectorate treaty in 1905, Japan constantly initiated campaigns intended to depreciate the value and functions of traditional education and scholarship existing in Korea. The concept regarding Chosŏn’s educational capacities as undersized and insufficient was frequently employed by the colonial government as a justification for educational reforms, and even until today, this idea continuously functions as a theoretical background of regarding the deterioration and depression of traditional education as a fait accompli. However, a review on educational development and practices led by the provincial governor Yi Hŏnyŏng in the latter half of the 19th century indicates that theories such as ‘absence of school’ and ‘decline of academics’ in the late Chosŏn period are groundless. Further studies are required to explore new approaches and awareness on the reality of traditional education.